KHARTUM 5

which carried us to Halfaia, whence a launch ferried

us to Khartum. It is of interest to give one's im-

pression of the mushroom city at that date. Of the pubHc buildings the palace, war office, and post-

office alone stood. The little villas along the river

front, with a few shops in rear, formed the four-year-

old town. One ploughed one's way about, ankle-deep

in sand. When I left it, four years later, an imposing embankment formed a fitting pedestal for the city

above it. Palace and villas had been added to out of

all recognition. Elegant walls replaced those of green

brick ; new buildings were erected everywhere, in-

cluding a magnificent mosque. There were two fine

hotels ; the streets were lighted with electricity ; the

river front was, owing to the embankment, no longer

a mean path, but a fine esplanade. No wonder that Khartum should astonish the tourist ; more so now

with its bridge spanning the Blue Nile, its Christian

churches raising their steeples heavenwards—a Euro-

pean city in the heart of Africa !

El Obeid, my destination, meant then to most the end of all things. Even my host, who had left it not

long before, did not realise the giant strides it had made towards civilisation. He himself had shot several

kudu, a most timid antelope, in afternoon strolls when

stationed there. As, however, the remoteness of a

station may be gauged by this—Do the officers wear

beards ?—El Obeid was fairly so, as some did, though

they were in the minority. After some delay my

camels were got together, and I started for Kordofan in company of another Bimbashi who had been in the